Rafael Ochoa’s Digital Artworks Reference Art History

Digital artist Rafael Ochoa creates dreamy, romantic artworks with a subtle eroticism that resemble a video game — if it were designed by the likes of Caravaggio. Ochoa’s works are created through a complex process that begins with a traditionally drawn sketch. The image is then recreated in the 3D modeling program Cinema 4D. “After the scene is sculpted, painted, arranged, lit and rendered in the 3D software,” Ochoa explained, “I transfer the rendered image to Photoshop for final processing—brushwork and tonal adjustments.” The human figures and the interiors they inhabit have a clay-like texture despite Ochoa’s realistic renderings. The artist cites contemporary dance and theater as his influences, which comes across in the way he focuses on his characters’ gestures and poised, graceful bodies.